


Give Nothing Back

by maeofthedead



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alcohol, Bar!AU, M/M, Pickpocket!Noya, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2018-05-08 21:37:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5514227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maeofthedead/pseuds/maeofthedead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Noya has enough to worry about. He's worried about where he’s going to sleep when the weather gets bad. He's worried about whether he can afford his next meal. He's worried about getting caught one day with his hand in someone else’s pocket. </p>
<p>He manages. Somehow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The first time Noya slipped his hand in and out of someone’s pocket undetected, he felt a strange warmth in his chest that he couldn’t identify, a weight to match the one he held in his hand. It felt awkward, almost too large to fit properly in his slender palm. He blinked down at the wallet for a moment, shocked at his own success.

He ran.

It didn’t occur to him until much later that simply walking away at a normal pace was wiser and less suspicious. Looking back at it, Noya would wince and wonder how in the world he hadn’t been caught.

Once he was out of sight, he pulled the wallet from his pocket to search hungrily through it. He came away with two thousand yen and a bunch of cards. Curious, he flipped through the cards to sneak a look at this stranger’s life: gym card, business cards, punch card, bus pass. Methodically, he tossed each one away in a nearby bin, but stopped short when he came across the driver’s license, briefly mesmerised by a face he’d only seen in passing.

It wasn’t the lift of the century but as Noya looked at the ID and at the stranger’s face that stared back up at him, he imagined the smile it wore was for him.

\--

“Ryuu!”

Noya watched as Tanaka’s head snapped up as his name was called out, recognizing Noya’s voice instantly and searching for the source. Noya gave him a slight wave to help distinguish himself from the diminishing crowd, and Tanaka’s expression split into a wide grin, one that Noya couldn’t help but return.

Tanaka seemed more intimidating than he actually was with his close-cropped hair that had a simple pattern shaved into it of a small figure of a bird perched over his right ear. Noya had once asked where he’d gotten it, and Tanaka had laughed and admitted that he’d told his sister to go crazy one day and this is what’d come of it.

Personally, Noya thought it was kind of badass.

“Yo, Noya!”

Going in for a high-five, he was surprised when instead Tanaka grabbed him into a hug, crushing his backpack and all his belongings against him, creating a strange sort of Noya-sandwich. His heart thudded uncomfortably in his chest, and Noya blinked a couple times. It took all of his self-control to return the embrace rather than shove it away. He didn’t have to wait too long, however, as Tanaka quickly pushed him back to better inspect him. Noya stood tall(ish) under the scrutinizing gaze as he adjusted his backpack where it’d started to slip his shoulder.

“Where the hell have you been man? It’s been like two months!”

Noya shrugged, “Ah, you know. Here and there.”

It was technically the truth. Staying in the same place too long made him restless and twitchy. That, and it was too easy to run into past marks if he didn’t switch things up. He’d stayed at a capsule hotel for a little while, his savings just enough to last him a month.

“I see you’re still working at The Nest,” Noya gesturing to the small neon sign above them. Tanaka nodded a group of people through the door, exchanging some offhanded conversation while doing so. His friendly demeanor slipped away briefly when one man’s ID didn’t meet his approval and he leveled them with a glare. The man winced and scampered off quickly while Noya resisted the urge to laugh. Tanaka turned back to Noya, smile back on his face as he returned to their conversation. “I’m surprised they haven’t fired you yet.”

“They can’t do that! I’m the best bouncer they have!” Tanaka pointed one thumb to his puffed-out chest, obviously very proud of his job security.

“Or the one with the scariest face.”

For that, Tanaka wrapped one arm around Noya’s neck to pulled him in a headlock, messing up his hair. Noya laughed and tried to wiggle out before finally slapping the other’s forearm a couple times to admit defeat.

“Alright, I give! I give!”

“Thought so.”

Once released, Noya sidestepped and slipped out of the way of the line. Once clear, he swung his backpack around, rifling through it before coming up with his prize: a wrapped melonpan, “To the victor go the spoils.”

Tanaka’s eyes lit up and he snatched it from Noya, tearing open the package in one go. By the time Noya glanced back up it was already half eaten, “Knew there was a reason I missed you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m an enabler,” Noya smiled. Every time the door opened to The Nest, he could hear the music from inside and feel it vibrating up through the soles of his worn-down shoes. He closed his eyes and let himself soak up the atmosphere.

When Tanaka started talking again, Noya opened one eye to give him some attention.

“You know you don’t have to bribe me to get in, right? I like you and Suga likes you. Which means Daichi has to like you because that man is whipped.”

Noya waved away the compliment like he was getting rid of a particularly annoying bug and chose to focus on the second part of the thought. “Well, it doesn’t hurt to have insurance. They get together while I was gone?”

Tanaka snorted and shook his head, “Nah, you know them.”

Unfortunately, he did. Those two had been playing this ‘I obviously want to bang you but for some reason let’s make things difficult instead’ game for over six months. It was getting ridiculous. He and Tanaka had been betting on when they’d get together but they’d both vastly underestimated and had ultimately kept their money. Which was probably for the best. Now it was just a matter of patience and waiting, qualities which neither Noya nor Tanaka possessed. They would’ve tried to interfere, had they not been so frightened of how Daichi would react.

“It figures.”

Tanaka reached over and jostled him a bit, and when Noya glanced over he gestured to his backpack, “So, you need a place to crash for a bit.”

It wasn’t a question. Tanaka knew the drill. The familiarity of it all made Noya’s skin crawl and he hesitated, “I can always find somewhere else, Ryuu.”

“Dude, I’m this close to giving you a key. You know you’re welcome to sleep on my shitty couch whenever you want.”

Tanaka raised one fist and Noya’s shoulders lost some of their tension as he lightly tapped it with his own, the deal officially sealed.

“I gotta work for a couple more hours, so if you want to head in, I’ll come get you when it’s time to leave.”

“Sounds good.”

“Try not to get too drunk.”

“No promises.” Noya gave him a mock salute as he pushed the door open, catching Tanaka’s mostly amused, but somewhat unimpressed look as he did so.

\--

Noya spotted Daichi already in the middle of his own shift, making eyes at Suga who was currently on stage, playing through a song on his worn and well-loved guitar.

Keeping his backpack close, Noya made himself comfortable on one of the stools. Once he got there, he stored it underneath his feet, making sure one foot was touching it at all times.

“Hey! Daichi!”

Glancing up, Daichi handed over a glass to another patron and took another order before coming over to him. Unlike Tanaka, he wasn’t willing to ignore everything at the drop of a hat just because Noya had happened to show up after an extended absence. Noya could respect that, the guy did have ‘responsibility’ practically tattooed to his forehead. Happily swinging his legs back and forth and tapping his fingers to the song’s beat, Noya was willing to wait. It’s not like he had anywhere better to be, in fact he preferred it here more than anywhere else.

“So, the elusive Nishinoya returns.” The words would sound almost accusatory if not paired with a slight smile.

“Here I am!” Noya swung both arms out, nearly clocking a nearby patron who ducked out of the way with a scowl. Noya tried his best to ignore the expression as well as when the woman gotup with a put-upon sigh and moved to sit elsewhere. He felt a twinge of guilt, regardless.

Daichi’s eyes followed the woman to her new seat before glancing back at Noya, and Noya ducked a little under the glare, recognizing the beginnings of a patented Daichi-Rant when he saw one.

“Bartender!”

Someone called from the other end of the bar and Daichi glanced back at him with a ‘we’re not finished’ look before putting on his best customer-smile and striding away. Noya sighed a little in relief and then jumped when he felt a hand land on his head and ruffle his already disheveled hair. Leaning back he noticed a familiar set of kind eyes with a piercing through the left eyebrow that glinted slightly in the dimmed lighting.

“I thought I saw you, Noya.”

The hug doesn’t surprise him this time, Suga’s a huggy sort of guy, and Noya returned it with full force, no hesitation. Suga settled into the seat on his right that was recently vacated and set his guitar to lean up against the bar. Together they took up more space than strictly necessary.

By the time they’d both adjusted, Daichi had made his way back over to set down a drink in front of Suga, who smiled his thanks.

“Hey, what about me?”

Daichi gave him a flat look, and Noya could just feel what was coming next, “I don’t know, you got an ID to show?”

Noya scowled as Suga laughed next to him and only sort of tried to hide it behind his glass. Suga’s attempt to smother his laugh didn’t go unnoticed, and Noya could see Daichi’s eyes flicker over to Suga, watching him with a light in his eyes. Noya rolled his eyes and went to reach for his bag and pull out his (fake) ID and instead hears a glass hit the bar above him. His head popped back up and he caught the hint of a smile before Daichi wandered off. Suga was already well on his way to being finished with his own.

Noya called it a win and wrapped both hands around the glass, perfectly pleased.

Once Suga finished, he turned to face Noya who was still in the middle of drinking.

“So...where were you?”

Noya paused mid-gulp before starting up again, largely to give himself time to think of an excuse, but he couldn’t come up with a plausible one that Suga would buy. Tanaka always said he was bad at lying, but Noya felt like he made up for it with being talented in side-stepping.

“Felt like getting out of town for a bit. Can’t keep me tied down, y’know!”

Suga hummed in contemplation and Noya felt his insides squirm a little bit even as he tried to keep up his grin, figuring out what Suga was thinking was a lot harder than it was with Tanaka.

“Well, we missed you.”

“I don’t know about that,” Daichi pipped up from a few feet away, “Tanaka’s a lot less rowdy when you’re not around.”

“Daichi! That’s not nice.”

With his chin propped up in the palm of his hand, Noya watched Suga and Daichi half-argue, half-tease each other as if he was spectating a tennis match. Noya’s wide smile melted into something softer.

\--

“C’mon, Ryuu.” Noya stretched his name out in an obnoxious whine on purpose and watched as Tanaka huffed at the sound much to his amusement.

“Hold on, dude! Why’re there so many damn keys?” He held out one for inspection and narrowed his eyes at it suspiciously, “I don’t even remember what this one is for.”

Tanaka continued to fiddled through his keychain full of, apparently, useless keys. Noya had long since given up on telling him to scale down. Apparently each one played too important a part to discard.

Noya lifted up one leg from where he was leaning against the far wall and tapped at the back of one of Tanaka’s locked knees and watched him almost stumble into the door while throwing out a string of curses. Tanaka spun around to give him a glare and Noya whistled, the picture of innocence. The two of them jumped when someone pounded on a nearby wall, a not so subtle sign telling them to shut up.

After a few more moments they busted through the door, seconds before Noya was this close to saying he could just pick the thing. Instead, he just shut the door behind them.

“Home-sweet-shitty-apartment.”

Tanaka’s apartment looked like, Noya assumed, any other bachelor pad, really: littered with random clothes, dishes unwashed in the sink, a leftover pizza box on the nearby table. Honestly Noya didn’t really care that much, he’d lived in much worse, and far more cramped, conditions. And Tanaka’s apartment just felt like an extension of him: messy, a little unexpected in places, but ultimately welcoming to those in the know. Noya swung his backpack to its resting place next to the couch and flopped down face first. Then sat up, dug something unmentionable out from underneath him (it was green, he knew that much), tossed it aside before settling back down.

Tanaka poked his head out from his bedroom door, already in just his boxers, with a toothbrush sticking out of one side of his mouth. Noya turned his head to the side when Tanaka made a sound to get his attention.

He gargled out something and Noya just raised an eyebrow. Tanaka’s head disappeared and when he came back he was toothbrush-less and wearing a nightshirt. He came over the slumped next to Noya, narrowly missing sitting on top of him.

“You left your toothbrush here last time--”

“Was wondering ‘bout that.”

“--which is kind of gross by the way. But it’s in there if you need it.”

“Cool.”

Noya buried his face against the arm of the couch, wiped out in the meantime and not willing to get up. Tanaka apparently had different ideas and pushed at his legs until they fell off the couch and brushed the floor. Noya whined.

“Oh no you don’t. You’re not sitting your dirty butt on my couch. You go brush your teeth, shower, and then you get to sleep. Them’s the rules.”

Noya glared back at Tanaka but relented after a moment and dragged himself off the couch and stumbled in the direction of the bathroom. He playfully flipped the other off to showcase his displeasure at having his sleep put off and moved to shut the door behind him.

Alright, so he looked a little wrecked, but that usually happened after a night of drinking that had been preceded by a day of traveling. This was normal, even. He wasn’t even hammered, just a little buzzed, completely coherent. Noya rubbed at his eyes to get the gunk out of them and turned around, tired of taking in his own reflection. He turned on the shower then quickly stripped down and stepped in.

It was nice, he contemplated while scrubbing through his hair, to shower in a somewhat familiar place. Rather than bouncing from place to place and taking whatever he could get. His entire life could be summed up in ‘using bathrooms of various qualities’.

He made it quick, not wanting to take too much hot water because he knew for a fact that Tanaka hadn’t had a chance to jump in yet. Once done, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist and used another to dry off his hair, noticing how it flopped into his vision and brushing it aside. He really needed to trim it sometime. He’d have to get some scissors somewhere and hope for the best. Or talk to Saeko. But she always wanted to try something new and however much Noya wanted to, he couldn’t afford it; monetarily or the attention it might call to him.

He located his toothbrush after searching through the medicine cabinet (which really was a mess, he noted, and one of the shelves was broken), brushed quickly, spat, rinsed and then set about getting ready to leave.

Picking his clothes up off the floor, Noya debated whether he should put them back on or go and rifle through his bag and come out with something a little bit cleaner. He pulled his clothes closer and sniffed.

Ugh. Alright. Definitely going with the clothes in his backpack.

A little more awake and coherent by the time he was done, Noya pushed open the door and wasn’t even quite through the doorway before something hit his face. Sputtering, Noya pulled it off to find that it was one of Tanaka’s shirts.

“Figured you’d need something to sleep in.”

Noya threw a thumbs up in his direction and pulled the it over his head. It was way too big for him, and hung off one shoulder a little but Noya didn’t care all that much. Snatching a pair of boxers from his bag he pulled them on and resumed getting comfortable on the couch, pushing Tanaka out of the way while he did so.

“Off, I’m tired.”

“Geez, I give you my couch to sleep on and this is how you thank me.” Tanaka laughed though and strolled off to the shower. Noya noticed that while he was gone Tanaka had already put out a blanket and a pillow for him. What a sap. He wrapped himself up in it regardless, hugging the pillow and letting himself drift off.

Noya sensed more than saw Tanaka get out of the shower and turn off the lights for him, he was already in that comfortable half-awake, half-asleep state. Normally he’d be all for staying up late with his friend and watching terrible action movies, but he’d spent a good portion of his day just getting here. Traveling sucked.

He hadn’t even realized he’d drifted off until he heard the faint sounds of Tanaka snoring in the other room and he shifted awake, poking his head out from where it had been buried against the pillow. He knew he should be annoyed at the sound and how it mixed with the traffic outside the window, but somehow it made him feel secure instead. Like he belonged here among all the noise and clutter.

Noya squinted at the light filtering through a nearby window whose bright, shifting colors that screamed neon and let that thought sink in before burying it and going back to sleep.

It wasn’t like he was going to stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Asahi shows up in the next chapter I promise!


	2. Chapter 2

Noya silently flipped through the money he’d made since the day started, trying to decide if he was done or if he should squeeze in one more lift. Noya’s stomach was beginning to cramp. He was hungry, and he was tired of bumming off Tanaka for food. There were only so many times he could do it before it would start weighing down on him. And since he’d been planning to dodge out of town again, he figured it’d only be right to grab a packet of snacks to leave at Tanaka’s before then, maybe share them together or whatever. Noya’s mental clock was telling him it was time to leave in the next few days, better not to stick around too much longer. So he decided it’d be better to get a little extra. For the road.

That settled, Noya stuffed his money into a little pocket in his backpack and pushed his hair out of his face before moving out of the side alley and back into the crowd.

  
After all these years, picking a target was something he did more by instinct, he just had a feeling for who he should shoot for. Suits were usually a good, if broad, indicator. Tailored suits were better, but the best targets were the ones with nice cufflinks. A glint around the wrist made Noya’s eyes immediately light up. Anyone could have a nice suit, but it took real money to throw it away on something as frivolous as cufflinks.

Sometimes, though, he just had to settle. He’d waited too long deciding and all the nice Suits had more or less made it back to their penthouses and expensive standards of living.

  
Sighing, Noya scanned the crowd before picking out someone and he swerved his way around a few people in order to be moving against the other man’s path. It was time for Plan B.

The guy was ridiculously tall, as he stood probably two heads above Noya, but that meant that his line of sight would be nowhere near where Noya was about to do his dirty work, and that worked perfectly for him. Plus he looked about as spaced out as they got, lost in his thoughts as the crowd more or less let him through. He looked a little intimidating, but if Noya bailed out every time he felt a little bit wary, he would’ve never made it this far.

His eyes scanned quickly in a short amount of time, digging up information as quickly as he could. Most people were right-handed, and their wallet could be in the front or back pocket depending, but the guy was wearing a coat so it was most likely there. Alright, good. Noya brought his gaze back to face forward in order to look like he was rushing, like he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings.

With their distance closing, he veered right, putting himself right in the path of the man, and braced himself for impact.

Their collision was nowhere near as violent as he was expecting.

As Noya brushed against the man’s shoulder, he slipped his hand in and out of the other’s coat pocket with what should’ve been fluid ease. Except the slightest touch had the man jumping away like he’d been shocked. Noya stared as the man’s sudden movement sent him careening into a nearby woman. The crowd shifted and surged to move around them, completely unbothered by Noya’s little fiasco.

“Oh god! I’m so sorry!”

Noya watched in baffled silence as the man’s intimidating presence completely vanished as he bowed to the woman and then to Noya. The woman bowed in response and offered apologies of her own. It was only after a moment of watching the ensuing polite-off that Noya realized he was still holding his prize in plain view for all to see. When the stranger turned back to him he released his grip on the wallet, letting it fall with a soft thud to the concrete. Their equally startled looks connected and Noya saw as a slow understanding worked its way through the man’s confusion.

Shit.

Noya didn’t wait for the shouting to start before getting the hell out of there. Dodging sideways, Noya slipped back into the crowd and ran for it. He’d done his fair share of running in the past, and as his shoes hit the sidewalk and adrenaline filled his veins, he felt his heart beating in his chest and a dizzy giddiness that could only come from getting away by the skin of his teeth.

Maybe it wasn’t healthy and maybe he shouldn’t have found joy in something so obviously wrong, but the guilt could come later and he’d deal, or not deal, with it then.

\--

No one followed him, and for that Noya was grateful. Once he felt he’d gained enough distance between himself and the stranger, he dug out his previous wallets, took his spoils, and then ditched them quickly in various places. He wasn’t about to take any chances. He had enough for today, he’d just have to get something for Tanaka another time.

Noya ducked into a nearby grocery store, asking where the bathroom was. The woman behind the counter pointed to the back of the store, barely glancing up at him. Noya bowed his thanks and swerved around the aisles (not reaching for or even touching anything else because cameras were definitely a thing) before finding what he was looking for.

  
The door creaked when he pushed it open, echoing in the small area and he surveyed everything before ducking into the handicapped stall, closing the door and slipping the lock into place. Noya swung his backpack to the ground, zipping it open and digging around before coming out with a different shirt and a sweatshirt. He pulled the shirt he was wearing off and switched, then zipped the sweatshirt over the top of everything. By the time he got back to Tanaka’s, it’d be late. But Tanaka did mention he didn’t have work tonight, so maybe action movies could happen.

Slipping back out the door, Noya wandered the aisles slower this time, picking up some protein bars and cheap jerky. He eyed the popsicles for a moment before giving himself a little mental kick and moving on. Those were a luxury item. He also eyed the melonpan, opened his fist and counted his bills again, before releasing a small breath. Nope. He couldn’t do that either. His fingers itched for a brief moment before he pulled himself away.

When he approached the front counter, the woman barely glanced up from her phone as she scanned his items and took his money. Noya stared as his bills disappeared into the register, feeling a sick uneasiness filling his gut, almost wishing he could take them back. Instead, he grabbed his change and items back from her then hurried back outside to a nearby bus stop.

Stuffing his stuff in his bag, Noya kept it between his feet as he waited for the bus. He didn’t actually know when it came, just that it did. A little sign attached to the waiting area informed him he could text to learn the time of the next bus and Noya snorted. That would be more helpful if he had a phone.

The bus came eventually and Noya pulled out his bus pass. The thing cost a lot but it was worth it for how much he had to move around via public transport. Noya maneuvered to the back row in the corner, his favorite spot, which was thankfully vacant. He pulled his backpack to sit on his lap, hugging it to his chest and stared out the window. The bus jerked forward and he watched as the scenery moved by.

\--

Noya bit off a piece of his protein bar as he did his best to take the stairs two at a time without tripping. The elevator was broken so he’d had to take the stairs. There always seemed to be something out of sorts with Tanaka’s complex. Noya just considered it part of the experience.

Tanaka was heading out by the time he’d gotten there, and when Noya lifted one hand to rap against the door it opened up suddenly and forcefully. Noya skipped out of the way, barely missing taking a door to the face as he choked briefly on his bar.

Tanaka slapped him on the back after getting over his surprise, and Noya coughed as he caught his breath.

“One of these days you’re going to give someone a concussion,” he finally managed to wheeze out, “and I’m not going to help you cover it up.”

“Oh shut up,” Tanaka had the decency to at least look somewhat ashamed but his mouth was twisted crookedly in a tell-tale sign that he was close to laughing and trying to hold it in.

“What’re you even rushing out for, man? Where’s the fire?”

Tanaka blinked, having forgotten his own reasoning for a moment before it hit him, “Oh! Daichi called, they need me to come in.”

“Oh,” Noya echoed back, shoulders slumping, he’d been looking forward to hanging out. He heard Tanaka snort.

“Alright, geez. That was too sad a face for a grown man. You can come with,” Tanaka’s hand clamped down on his shoulder and he steered him inside and shutting the door behind him. Noya took another bite of his bar, letting himself be led, “But first, let’s get you something to wear besides a hoodie.”

Noya pulled a mock-affronted face as they stepped into Tanaka’s room and Tanaka threw open the closet door, “I happen to like my hoodies, thank you.”

“No really? I hadn’t noticed since you literally wear nothing else.”

“Untrue.”

“Completely true. Now shut up, I gotta call Daichi.”

Tanaka tapped the screen of his phone and the phone started calling on speaker so he could rifle through his messy closet undeterred. Noya shifted a few things off Tanaka’s bed before sitting down and making himself comfortable to watch the ensuing commotion. There was a click and Daichi’s voice, smaller, with a background of static, echoed through the room as he didn’t even offer a greeting before demanding:

_“Tanaka where are you?”_

“Yo, Daichi. Noya’s gonna come with me, we might be a few seconds.”

Noya snickered as Tanaka’s head ducked in and out of the closet and he discarded a few items here and there, messing up the already disaster of a room. “Hi, Daichi!” he called from across the room.

“Noya says hi.”

 _“Hey, Noya.”_ There was muffled sounds on the phone, something blocking the receiver on Daichi’s side before he came back, _“Suga says to get over here and that he needs a drinking buddy.”_

“We’ll be there soon,” Tanaka finally pulled something black out of the closet to inspect it. He and Daichi exchanged a few more pleasantries before there was another click and the steady beeping of a dial tone.

There was a moment of comfortable silence as Noya kicked his legs against the side of the bed, the toes of his shoes brushing against the carpet, creating raised trails and erasing them methodically, “I thought you had today off?”

“Yeah, me too. But Suga’s bringing a new guy over so we gotta show him the basics. Or I have to show him, really. New bouncer.”

Noya head tilted to the side, “What happened to the old one?”

Tanaka shrugged, “Dunno. He was supposed to work sometime last week but never showed up. Ukai got an email from the guy a few days later saying the job didn’t ‘fit’ or whatever and we’ve been short ever since. Here try this.”

Tanaka handed him the black jacket from before, it looked a lot smaller than Tanaka would ever wear. Noya squinted at it.

“Saeko left it here last week,” he said, confirming his suspicions and Noya groaned.

“Dude, really?

“One: Don’t be sexist. Two: Saeko has awesome taste. And three: you’re too tiny to wear any of my stuff, what’d you expect?”

“Rude,” Noya made a face but he slipped his hoodie off, tossing it on Tanaka’s bed and tugged the jacket over him, bending his arms a few times to get a feel for it. The jacket felt a little weird, all stiff in the elbows. He was used to wearing something with more give. And for all Tanaka’s assurances that it would fit better than anything he had, it still fell a little loose and strange.

He glanced back up to see Tanaka inspecting him and they shrugged in unison.

“It’ll do?

Tanaka nodded, “Yeah. Just don’t run off with it.”

Confused, Noya blinked up at him and Tanaka rubbed the back of his head as the glitch in their conversation shuttering things to a brief halt.

“And, uh, don’t tell Saeko that I let you borrow it.”

“...Sure.”

As they headed out, Noya paused for a second before grabbing his backpack off of the bed and slinging it over his shoulders. Tanaka glanced at him for a moment but didn’t say anything.

\---

Walking into The Nest during off hours was a weird experience, like seeing someone out of context and having to take a second to recognize them.

There was no music playing and the neon lights outside were turned off. When Tanaka pushed the door open, the inside was bright as various employees were setting chairs back into their rightful places and quickly scrubbing down tables. There was an argument happening in the backroom, their voices echoing to the front. No one seemed particularly surprised or perturbed, not even glancing back.

Noya raised an eyebrow at Tanaka who just shrugged in response, “Kageyama and Hinata go at it a lot. Ukai threatened to fire them both if they did it during customer hours, though.”

“Ah.”

Daichi was setting up behind the counter and looked to be the only one reacting to the commotion. He looked progressively more irritated as the argument escalated, and after a moment he finally set down the glass he was cleaning to march into the backroom. The argument stopped abruptly as he opened the door.

“Tanaka, there you are,” Suga called from where he was sitting in one of the booths across from someone Noya didn’t quite recognize.

Halting what looked to be a deep conversation, Suga waved them over with a grin. His friend looked a little fidgety but didn’t say anything, instead turning to them to offer a wave of his own. Something about him seemed familiar, though Noya couldn’t figure out why. Then it hit him so suddenly he nearly stopped in his tracks.

It was that guy. From the botched lift earlier that day. Shit.

Shit shit shit shit shit.

He’d have to leave town, immediately. He didn’t have enough money for that. He only had a day's worth of savings and most of it had been spent on food. He could never come to The Nest again. Tanaka would probably hate him. Suga and Daichi too and...

Noya’s quickly spiraling thoughts were interrupted when Suga swept one hand over to the stranger, smile bright and unconcerned, “Tanaka, Noya, this is Azumane Asahi. Asahi this is Tanaka Ryuunosuke and his friend Nishinoya Yuu. Asahi’s going to be your new bouncer.”

Suga leaned back, his quick and brief introductions sufficient enough by his own standards. Noya watched Azumane carefully, but the other’s eyes just skipped over him. Noya let himself breathe normally again and his heart quit pounding in his ears. His near-panic subsided and went unnoticed.

Everyone else paused for a second, absorbing the onslaught of information. Tanaka was the first to jump back into action and he stepped forward to take control of the situation. Azumane stood up, towering over the both of them easily, even though he hunched over in a quick bow and muttered a greeting. Tanaka returned both immediately and Noya only after he was elbowed into doing so.

“So you’re the new guy, huh?” Azumane nodded his confirmation, and Tanaka gave him an evaluating look before spinning around, “Well come on, I’ll show you the ropes.”  
Azumane scurried after him but not before giving Suga a worried look. Suga had just waved him off in Tanaka’s direction and that seemed enough to give him the incentive to follow. Noya watched them before moving in to take Azumane’s vacant seat across from Suga, his legs shaking a bit. Noya noticed a neatly shredded napkin that sat on the table in front of him and he brushed it into a pile to throw away later.

“Daichi said you needed a drinking buddy?”

“That I did, Noya,” Suga nodded solemnly before laying his head sideways against the tabletop, “That I did. But that was before Daichi decided to be very mean and say no drinks before customer hours or before I perform.”

“Ah man, drunk performing sounds like the best idea, are you kidding?”

“Well, apparently the last time I tried, I decided the lights were too hot and started stripping.”

“Oh my god. Tell me someone got video? Pictures at least?”

Suga laughed and lifted his head back up, “Daichi caught me before that happened. Now, I’m restricted to plain old lemonade before shows.” Suga shook his glass sadly, the ice clinking against the sides.

“Well that’s disappointing.” Noya grabbed the glass from Suga’s grasp, sipped what was left of it and then reached inside the glass, pulling out ice to chew on. “I got dressed up and everything.”

“I noticed. New jacket?” Suga officially abandoned the dramatics for the time being to look at him thoughtfully.

“Ah, kinda? Ryuu let me borrow it.”

“Looks too small to be his.”

“I can say with absolute certainty that it belongs to a Tanaka.”

“Saeko?”

“...yes.”

While they talked, Noya kept one eye out for Azumane, having long since perfected the ability to watch someone without seeming like he was. He wasn’t able to gauge anything. Either this guy was the best actor he’d ever seen, or he really didn’t recognize him. Noya slowly relaxed as the minutes passed and nothing terrible happened. The one arm he’d kept through the strap of his backpack for a quick escape made it’s way back out to rest on the table.

Azumane, though, well Noya was going to have the exciting chore of avoiding him from now on.

\--

“Yo,” Tanaka’s head popped over the side of the couch, disrupting Noya’s peaceful morning. Noya groaned and pulled the blanket over his head, hardly in the mood. “We’re going on an adventure.”

“Ryuu,” He whined, “It’s too early for this.”

“It’s eleven.”

“So?”

Noya felt Tanaka’s weight shift and then remove itself from the top of the couch and, for a moment, he relaxed, maybe he’d be able to get another hour. In retrospect, he really should have known better.

Noya’s only warning was a short, wordless, battle cry before Tanaka landed on top of him, elbowing him in the gut.

“Shit!”

Tangled up in blankets and being squashed, Noya kicked out one leg to try and roll Tanaka off the couch and off him. Tanaka instead grabbed his leg and they both tumbled off the couch. The battle was on.

A few minutes later, Noya surrendered and Tanaka sat up with a victory cheer that earned them angry pounding against the ceiling. Noya snickered and tried to cover it up with his sleeve, but as soon as he and Tanaka made eye contact they burst out laughing. Tanaka’s upstairs neighbor was less-than amused.

Once their laughter faded into silence, Noya scrambled up to sit cross legged on the couch, “So what’s the adventure?”

“Ennoshita’s.”

Noya groaned and his head fell against the back of the couch with a satisfying thud, “Ryuu no, he hates me.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Tanaka straight up lied, waving one hand in Noya’s direction as he picked himself off the floor.

“Does too! If looks could kill I’d be dead fifteen times over.”

“Don’t be dramatic.”

“I want you to speak at my funeral.”

“Yeah, sure ok,” Tanaka’s voice floated back over to him as he walked through his bedroom door, “‘Here lies Noya, he died of a heart attack because he was scared of a high school teacher.’”

“I’m not scared,” but he sounded like a petulant child and they both knew it. Tanaka’s head poked out from the doorframe to give him a flat stare.

“I’m not!” Noya insisted, pulling himself up to a better position, Tanaka already disappeared back into his room for the second time. “But you haven’t seen the looks he gives me when you’re out of the room. It’s like I murdered his puppy.”

There was a stretched out moment silence where Noya waited for some clever response but it didn’t come and Tanaka reappeared in the doorway, changed and ready for the day.  
They stared at each other, wills silently clashing before Tanaka let out a long breath, bringing up one hand to adjust the brim of his hat.

“He’s got some weed.”

Noya perked up, eyes bright with the promise of getting high, “You should’ve led with that.”

\--

The walk to Ennoshita’s was punctuated with light teasing and pointless chatter, though Noya caught Tanaka glancing at him every once in awhile like he expected him to bolt or something. As if he would do that. Again.

Ennoshita’s apartment complex was much nicer than Tanaka’s. The wallpaper wasn’t peeling off in little pieces to pick at, the neighbors weren’t apt to pound on the nearest wall at any sign of noise, and all the doors locked properly. It was nice enough to make Noya feel displaced any time he went there.

The lack of warm greetings certainly didn’t help.

Noya hid a little bit behind Tanaka when he knocked on the door, fiddling with the right strap on his backpack so that he had something to do with his hands.

“Yo, Ennoshita.”

“Nice of you to drop by.”

For a few moments after the door opened, Noya got a visual what he supposed Ennoshita looked like normally with calm, half lidded eyes and a slight smile that he directed Tanaka’s way. He seemed like a chill person to hang around, that is until he glanced past Tanaka and his gaze found Noya, then his eyebrows snapped together and he frowned.  
Noya did his best not to hunch his shoulders before freeing his hand from his backpack to offer a weak, one-handed wave. Ennoshita let out one long breath, like releasing the air out of a tire. Noya shot Tanaka a look that he refused to return.

“You’re back.”

“Yeah, hey.”

That seemed to be the extent of the welcome that was going to happen and Tanaka bounded in, trying to push past the stiff silence that had fallen between them. Ennoshita followed and wandered over the kitchen. Noya was last, and as he shut the door he whispered to Tanaka furiously while they toed off their shoes, leaving them in a neat line near the door.

“You didn’t tell him I was coming, did you?”

Again, Tanaka refused to look at him, “It may have slipped my mind.”

Noya groaned, “Seriously, Ryuu?”

“Look, don’t worry about it. It’s fine.”

Despite his reassurances, Tanaka didn’t look completely convinced by his own words and rushed to the kitchen after Ennoshita. Noya bit the inside of his cheek before deciding to follow the rest of the way into the apartment. It was about as well put together as the hallway that led to it, with little touches scattered around to provide evidence of someone living there: books were left to rest on their pages on the coffee table, a bookshelf with forgotten mugs stacked in the empty spaces and DVDs taking up half the shelf space, and a tiny cactus sitting on the window sill. While it was nowhere near the cluttered mess that Tanaka’s place was, it still spoke of home.

Hushed tones floated over from the kitchen and Noya resisted the urge to to sneak closer, he was fairly certain he knew what they were talking about anyway. Instead he shrugged his backpack from his shoulders to set it down on the floor, and settled himself next to it. The whispering continued from the other room, Tanaka’s voice staying low and quiet while Ennoshita’s occasionally raised in volume, like he didn’t care if Noya heard.

Noya hated whispered talks. Nothing good was ever spoken quietly.

With a knot forming in his stomach, Noya reached for the book on the coffee table and turned it to the cover. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets looked back up and him and in spite of himself Noya smiled and started to flip through it, remembering sentences and quotes spoken to him when he was younger and unwilling to go to sleep when told. If he focused he could almost piece together the memory of her voice.

“Lost my place?”

Noya jumped a little and slapped the book back down on the table, not certain it landed on the correct pages or not, and glanced up to see Ennoshita staring back at him, minus his usual frown and angry eyebrows.

“Uh no, I was just looking,” Noya blinked a couple times and Tanaka swung his way back into the room and past Ennoshita to flop down next to Noya. Tanaka spared a look back to Ennoshita and something important must have passed between them that Noya couldn’t catch because Ennoshita didn’t argue further.

\--

Noya felt light in a way that could only be the result of recreational drugs.

Ennoshita was on the couch, barely looking affected, as he blew out smoke Tanaka sprawled out next to him, munching on a bag of chips they’d brought in, both pairs of eyes were focused on the TV screen. There was a volleyball game on and the two of them had suddenly found this the most fascinating thing ever in their haze. Leaning his back against the couch, Noya didn’t complain, as he found it strangely mesmerizing himself.

A player on screen smacked the ball down for a spike on the other side, getting it in, and Tanaka let out an excited yell and turned to Ennoshita, jostling him slightly.

“Oh man! Did you see that!”

Rubbing the ear that was closest to Tanaka, Ennoshita raised one eyebrow, “Yeah, kinda hard to miss.”

“Brings back memories doesn’t?”

For the first time since they set foot in his apartment, Ennoshita grinned and Noya tilted his head to the side. It brought back vague memories for him too, if he could only access them. “You mean all the times you scored and then decided to strip?”

Noya snorted, “Wait, what?”

“Hey hey hey,” Tanaka raised one hand and placed it crookedly on Ennoshita’s face, missing his mouth and covering his right eye instead, “I did not strip, alright? It was a victory cheer.”

“That involved taking off your shirt,” He pushed Tanaka’s hand off his face, smile growing wider.

Letting out a burst of startled laughter, Noya leaned his head back to rest on the cushions, only stopping when Tanaka smashed a throw pillow onto his face. Noya took it as his own and folded it between his arms.

“So you guys played?”

Ennoshita hummed and nodded, “Yeah, in high school.”

“This guy,” Tanaka stuck one thumb out to point to the other, “Was captain in our third year.”

“Nice,” Noya trailed off as he thought for a moment, remembering his own times on the court, however short lived, “I played for a bit.”

“Really?” Both pairs of eyes glanced down at him and some part of Noya’s brain told him that this wasn’t information he should be passing out, but it was small and deluded piece, floating up above with the smoke, trailing out of the open window.

“Yeah! I was pretty good, actually.” Noya smiled up at the ceiling remembering vaguely how many bruises he would end up with after every practice and how it felt to save a ball at the last minute. “I was a libero in junior high, got an award too!”

Noya laughed again, like it was the funniest thing in the goddamn world, regardless of the fact that the other two didn’t seem inclined to join in. He could remember it even now, a small gold plaque with his name engraved on the bottom. It’d been so shiny, he’d liked to lean it back and forth to look at his distorted reflection peeking out through the words. It’d meant the world to him at the time, physical proof that he had been worth something.

Turned out the plaque had been worth nothing when Noya really needed it . He hadn’t been able to even pawn it off for money and it was too heavy to carry with him, taking up precious space he needed for essentials. He had no idea where it was now, probably in some garbage dump or smashed to pieces. Noya picked up a pipe and lighter off the table and took another hit.

He was too sober for this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this far! 
> 
> I'm sorry for the delay. Life has been an absolute nightmare and I'm also trying to graduate so you can understand the madness. I also lost my beta in this chapter. Not through any fault of her own, life just got too complicated for her to continue. If you could send good vibes her way that would be wonderful.
> 
> If you'd like to come bother me, feel free! You can find me at maeofthedead.tumblr.com.


	3. Chapter 3

Azumane proved easier to avoid than Noya had first anticipated. After he’d been trained and once he was done shadowing Tanaka, the two worked opposite shifts and rarely ever saw each other. Noya just narrowed down his visits to only when Tanaka would be there. Problem solved.

And Noya was nothing if not a problem solver.

\--

Sometimes Noya stole from the wrong people, and sometimes he got caught.

“What the _hell_ do you think you’re doing?”

Occupational hazard

There weren’t as many people walking around close to eight p.m. on a weekday but Noya figured he’d risk it regardless. He’d picked the middle of a group of three men, probably around his age, dressed casually. Their clothes were baggy enough that Noya doubted they’d be able to tell if he snatched something. They’d seemed clueless but for whatever reason he’d been caught. In the middle of sticking his hand into the guy’s pocket, his wrist had been grabbed by one of the bystanders. His arm was twisted and held against his back and Noya’s hand ached as he dragged his heels to try and gain some sort of advantage, however small. It didn’t help, as he was dragged into a nearby alleyway.

Noya’s head was slammed against the alley wall and he gripped the wrist that held him upright the edges of his vision sparked as he spat out a few choice curses. One of the men grabbed the front of his shirt and Noya tried to shake off his wall-induced daze as he was lifted off his feet. Kicking and thrashing, he barely landed a hit and Noya mentally cursed his own lack of height that could’ve come in handy. One of the others decided to get in on the fun and Noya felt someone punch the side of his head and his ears rang. His almost-victim continued shouting obscenities that became harder and harder to understand with his head throbbing.

Why did he pick someone surrounded by friends? Friends who had immediately seen something was wrong when Noya had intentionally run into them. Friends meant extra eyes to catch him.

Fuck. Fuck him for being greedy.

The guy that held him up nodded towards the backpack, “Let’s see what he’s got.”

One of the others grabbed the shoulder straps and yanked them off none too gently. Noya gripped one of the straps as tight as he could but it was wrenched from his grasp.

Noya shook his head in an attempt to clear his head it but it only made it worse as he tugged at the wrist that held him in place. “Wait! Hold on!”

All that earned him was a kick to his leg and Noya let out a short yelp. It throbbed as Noya pushed and shoved, struggling to get in a hit. He couldn’t take a lot of pleasure as he succeeded doing so when a punch to the gut pushed the air out of his lungs.

They pocketed all the money he had, which had been a pretty good amount, as it was getting to the end of the day. Noya’s shoulders went limp at losing that sense of security, he knew he could get it back but the point still stood that he’d lost it in the first place.

It was only when they reached for a small side-pocket that Noya’s fight came back, his heart beating erratically as a surge of energy overtook him. His protest came in a short, breathless pant.

“You got the money! Back off!”

The leader looked back at him and his glare turned into something malicious and gleeful, “Something you don’t want us to see?”

When he turned to the others who had paused in filtering through his pack, Noya jerked his head forward and sunk his teeth into the guy’s hand and he tasted copper as blood began to seep into his mouth. Noya heard screaming and the grip holding him down loosened and he broke free.

Noya took that moment to scramble forward and snatch his backpack. He managed to get a good grip on the end of it and he pulled with all his might. The guy held on and Noya’s leg shot forward to kick him in the shin. Noya managed get the bag free.

Something shoved against his back, and Noya’s right hand shot forward as he hit the concrete wrong. His hand slid out to the side and Noya just knew something was wrong with it. He could feel it. Curled protectively around his backpack, Noya tensed, waiting. Instead, his attackers seemed just as tired as he was and he heard then felt someone spit onto the back of his head.

Eventually Noya heard footstep move away from him as laughter echoed in the small space and he waited a few more moments before gingerly rising to sit up against the wall. His leg still hurt but it was filed away to the back of his mind in favor of his hand. Bringing it up to eye-level, Noya tried to move it, and while it did shift in response it sent a spark of hot/cold up and down his arm. He hissed and hugged it to his stomach, resolving not to move it for the time being.

With his other hand he carefully moved the backpack up to check the side-pocket . It was empty.

Noya’s head started swimming and he realized vaguely that he wasn’t breathing. He sucked in a breath of air and shoved his backpack to the side, searching the nearby ground for any sign of--

There.

Reaching forward with his left hand, Noya snatched up a small folded photograph, taking in the slightly dirty edges. He sighed and struggled to open it with the end of his thumb, it took a moment before finally relenting.

It opened to reveal a picture of a much younger Noya held in the lap of a woman with his same eyes, creases distorting the middle of their faces. They were both smiling. His hand twitched like it was going to crush the photo and instead Noya set it gently on the ground. With fingers shaking, he folded it once more, pre-made creases making it easier to close than open. After he finished he carefully put it back into place and felt around for another moment, satisfied when he felt a small key.

He was able to breath again.

He moved on to search the rest of his backpack. Like he’d thought, they had taken all of his money. Noya’s vision distorted for a moment and he scrubbed his left hand at his eyes. He took a deep breath. Nothing else had been taken, nothing else was considered valuable enough and he thanked his meager amount of luck for that.

Noya made his way back to the wall, tugging his backpack to sit next to him. After hesitating for a moment he looked at his hand again. There was an angry red that spread from his thumb outwards into the palm. Shit.

He turned his leg to the side to look at his other forming bruise, it wasn’t as bad, thankfully. He could still move it alright. Noya reached his uninjured hand to poke at the bruise. Then he called himself an idiot for poking it and reached to touch the back of his head, wincing a little bit. His hand came back wet and he grimaced before wiping it on the end of his shirt.

“Fuck,” he whispered, “fuck fuck fuck.”

Looking out the end of the alleyway, Noya watched as pedestrians past by, paying him no attention. He was just another problem and he wasn’t theirs to deal with. He supposed he could respect that on some level.

Noya leaned his head back against the wall, closed his eyes, and let out a long sigh as he willed himself to get his shit together. He knew he’d have to get the motivation to move eventually.

Sometimes he wished he was someone’s problem. Because then at least he would belong somewhere.

\--

“Nishinoya?”

Noya didn’t realize he’d briefly fallen unconscious until he was startled back awake. His whole body jerked in an attempt to rouse him and he immediately regretted the action as his leg protested and his hand throbbed dully. He hissed again, like he was trying to push the pain out between his teeth. He sensed rather than saw someone kneel down in front of him and he risked opening his eyes. At first all he registered was a lot of brown, then his vision adjusted, slowly piecing together a face--

“Azumane?”

He looked more anxious than Noya felt, hands fluttering just above him like he couldn’t decide if trying to move Noya would be a good idea.

“What happened? Are you ok? What’s wrong? Should I call someone? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

Noya’s brain wasn’t quite ready to play this game and he blinked once, twice, “One question at a time, please.”

“Sorry I...sorry. Are you alright?”

For some reason, that struck Noya as hilarious and his head ached and pounded as he laughed. He was very far from alright. Azumane didn’t seem amused, his eyebrows drawing together as he frowned and Noya managed to pull himself together enough to glance back up.

“I’ve been better,” he admitted.

“What happened?”

“Got mugged.”

Noya prepared himself to try and form reasonable answers to any other questions, but they never came. Azumane seemed to be pondering over something and Noya couldn’t bring himself to care.

Biting his lip, Azumane reached a hand out towards the backpack and stopped when Noya threw one arm over it before he got halfway there. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Noya knew that the action was pure instinct but he hadn’t been able to reign it in.

Azumane raised both hands up, palms out, trying to show that he meant no harm. “We need to get you off the ground. You, uh, you don’t look like you’re up for carrying much.”

Noya considered that silently for a moment while biting his lip, then nodded, slid his arm down and allowed Azumane to pick it up and sling it over his shoulder.

Gritting his teeth, Noya went to get up off the ground when a hand stuck itself in his view. Noya stared at it and then back up at Azumane who looked back at him expectantly. When he didn’t immediately take it, Azumane began pulling back, “Oh, sorry I uh…”

Noya placed his uninjured hand in Azumane’s and gripped tightly as he was pulled straight up, his feet leaving the ground for a moment.

Once up, Noya leaned heavily against the wall and tried to assess how bad his condition was now that he was standing. He carefully placed some pressure on his leg and while it ached some, it didn’t seem too bad. He glanced up at Azumane, raising one eyebrow.

“You say sorry an awful lot.”

“Sor--I mean--”

Noya smiled, feeling like he had the upper hand in this conversation somehow. So this is what he’d been missing during his staunch avoidance of Azumane, lots of apologies. Tanaka had said he was a bit of a pushover, all things considered. After a moment of stumbling over what he was trying to say without the punctuation of ‘sorry’s to help him, Azumane landed on:

“We should get you back to The Nest.

Thankfully it wasn’t too far away, Noya carefully kept his hand close to his middle so he wouldn’t jar it as he moved.

“Do you need me to carry you?”

Noya’s head snapped up to glance at Azumane who looked like he regretting asking.

“I can walk, Azumane,” and as if to prove it, he began to do just that, a little slow and favoring his right side but he managed. He heard footsteps behind him and Azumane appeared at his side, keeping pace easily with his longer, un-injured legs. Together they made an odd and unbalanced pair.

This being the first actual conversation he had with the guy, Noya didn’t know how to continue it exactly. It hadn’t been off to a great start. On the bright side, Noya was absolutely sure that Azumane didn’t recognize him after this, otherwise he was sure the guy wouldn’t have bothered helping him in the first place. At least he could purge that from his worries.

Azumane felt tense beside him and Noya did his best to not let that feeling leak over to him. People kept looking over at them suspiciously, but all the looks were aimed at Azumane, like they assumed he’d done this to Noya somehow. The thought made Noya snort a little. After a block of awkward silence, Azumane pulled out his phone and started typing.

“What’re you doing?”

Azumane looked at him, as if he was surprised that Noya was even paying attention to him. Which was dumb, really, Azumane had all his stuff.

“Texting Suga, telling him to meet us at The Nest.”

Noya tilted his head to the side, “Why?”

“He’s a pre-med student. He’ll be able to check and see if we need to get you to a hospital.”

Noya frowned, this new information about Suga distracting him from the idea of how much he needed to start refusing to go to the hospital, “Oh, huh, I didn’t know that.”

He wondered to himself why he didn’t know that about Suga, then again they only seemed to get together when they were prepared to be drunk. Noya wondered vaguely if he needed to start rethinking some things.

\--

By the time they got to The Nest, a line had already formed outside the door. Tanaka stood to the side of the door, waving someone in, and when he turned and caught sight of Noya, he scowled. Noya froze and felt Azumane do the same beside him.

Ignoring protests from soon-to-be patreons, Tanaka called the two up to the front of the line and from his uncharacteristic silence, didn’t seem to like what he found up close either. He looked Noya up and down, taking in the way his hand was held close and his unbalanced stance, then looked up at Azumane.

“Cover for me for a bit, okay?”

Azumane nodded, “Yeah, you got it.”

Nodding, Tanaka lifted one arm like was going to throw it over Noya’s shoulder, but hesitated as if he couldn’t decide whether that would do more harm than good. Noya gave him a one-handed thumbs up to try and get rid of the worried crease between Tanaka’s eyebrows but if anything, they became more severe. Noya’s hand dropped to his side and he turned back to Azumane, ignoring the tight feeling in his chest.

“My stuff?”

“Oh, right!” Azumane looked like he’d completely forgotten he was holding it and that almost made Noya smile. Swinging it off his shoulders, Azumane went to hand it off only to have it intercepted.

“Hey!”

Without dignifying his yell with a response, Tanaka slung the backpack over his own shoulders and then started off. Noya’s chest ached with instinctual panic as he watched him go. While Azumane had taken it before, Noya had been by his side every step of the way and the guy was a pushover. Noya trusted Tanaka, but that didn’t mean he trusted him with his stuff.

After exchanging a quick glance with Azumane and receiving nothing but a shrug, Noya limped after Tanaka. Tanaka noticed and slowed to a stop to let him catch up. They turned around the corner to the back alley behind The Nest, music becoming more muffled and distant behind them.

Tanaka produced his set of various keys, and sifted through them while Noya watched. Feeling like he should say something, Noya opened his mouth to do just that when Tanaka beat him to it.

“Suga said that Asahi found you in an alleyway looking like you got the shit kicked out of you. Looks like he wasn’t exaggerating.”

Noya lifted one shoulder up and then back down in a shrug, “Eh, it looks worse than it is. And I’m pretty sure he didn’t say it like that.”

“I took some liberties but,” Tanaka admitted as he evidently found the right key and the door swung inwards, “that was pretty much the gist of it. And you do look pretty bad.”

Not knowing how to reply to that, Noya decided the best way was to stay quiet. Turns out he didn’t have to come up with something, as Suga ambushed him the moment they were inside.

“What’d you get yourself into, Noya?”

It didn’t seem like a question that needed answering as Suga didn’t wait for one.

In a calm, professional way that Noya had never witnessed from him before, Suga led him to the break room and he was left to sit on the ratty couch against the far wall. Compressions in a few places spoke to how well used it was and Noya sunk into one of them, knowing it would be difficult to get back to his feet. His backpack was set carefully beside him.

“Tanaka? Could you grab me some ice and put it in a plastic bag? This hand is worrying me. Maybe some painkillers while you’re at it.”

“Sure. Be back.”

Tanaka ducked out of the room as Suga turned back to Noya with a critical tilt of his head. It was really odd to see Suga so serious, Noya decided, it didn’t seem to fit with what he’d learned about him over the past couple years.

“So, what hurts the most?”

Noya held out his right hand for Suga who took it gingerly, turning it over and applying a bit of pressure to test where it hurt. When Noya was able to move his hand, if a bit unevenly, Suga nodded, satisfied that it wasn’t broken.

“We’ll have to get a brace. Just so you don’t make it worse.”

Without realizing he was doing so, Noya reached for his bag so he could count up dollars to see if he had enough, he stopped short when he realized. Embarrassed, he pulled his hand back before admitting, “I don’t...I don’t have money for that.”

“Well, I figured that,” Tanaka chose that moment to come back, ice in one hand, painkillers and a bottle of water in the other, handing them off to Suga, “which is why I’m going to pay for it.”

“Ryuu.”

“Yuu.”

Before an argument could properly begin, Suga firmly pressed the ice against Noya’s hand, placing the other hand on top of it for him to hold the ice pack in place and then gave him the water and pills, “I can get one discounted at work, so _I’ll_ get it.”

“Suga…”

Noya quieted down when Suga gave him a pointed look, gesturing to the painkillers and he sighed and took them.

“You don’t have to.”

“Nope,” Suga agreed, “But I want to so let’s skip the part where you try to convince me otherwise, alright?”

Noya shifted, uncomfortable with the forced compromise. It wasn’t that he was against taking help, he just usually had a choice in the matter.

“Fine,” he relented and Suga practically beamed at him.

“Great! Now let’s see about the rest of you.”

The rest of the inspection went off without any hitches, Suga declaring his leg to only be bruised and, after shining the light on his phone into Noya’s eyes, that he didn’t have a concussion so far as he could tell.

“I’ll check up on you again when I come to drop off the brace, ok?”

“Alright.”

“But I don’t think we need to take you to a hospital.”

Noya let out a long sigh of relief, as he’d been trying to come up with excuses not to go should it come to that and he was thankful that he didn’t have to.

Tanaka cleared his throat from the doorway where he’d been watching the entire time, they both glanced up at him but it was Suga who he exchanged looks with. Without a word, Suga nodded and stood up.

“I’ll go make sure Daichi and Asahi know you’re not dying,” before he left, Suga reached out and put on hand on Noya’s shoulder, “be a little more careful, alright? You really scared us.”

Suga was smiling but there was something darker underneath that barely reached the surface before it vanished. Noya found himself nodding, and Suga seemed satisfied with that. He left the room, placing one hand briefly on Tanaka’s arm as he passed.

Like they were tag teaming him, as soon as Suga was out of sight, Tanaka stepped forward, grabbing one of the chairs from under the break room table to pull it over and sit on it backwards, arms resting on the back of the chair.

“So--”

Tanaka’s stance and quieter tone clued Noya to the fact that this was the beginning of a more serious talk than he was prepared to have. Especially when his head throbbed with a headache that hadn’t had enough time to be affected by the painkillers. So instead he tried to cut off Tanaka before he could get started.

“Told you it wasn’t that bad.”

A raised eyebrow was all it took for Noya to know that Tanaka knew a diversion when he saw one and he wasn’t impressed.

“So,” he repeated, cutting off any other weak detours, “we need to go to the police.”

Shit. Warning signs flashed in the back of Noya’s mind. Right, that’s what normal people would do in this situation wouldn’t they?

He hadn’t even thought about the police. Involving them would add way more trouble than Noya was ready to deal with.

“Nah,” he leaned back, trying to seem casual, though the extended silence between the question and the answer betrayed him, “Filling out paperwork is a huge pain.”

“Dude, you can’t just let things like this go.”

“I didn’t even see what they looked like, alright?” Noya’s voice halted and then started again and he mentally kicked himself, “They probably spent all the money, anyway.”

“We could call the bank? Track them by a card?”

Noya nearly laughed, but stopped himself just short and turned it into a cough. As if he had any bank cards to track, “Ryuu, just leave it alone, ok?”

Letting out a long, frustrated growl, Tanaka was tense and angry in a way that Noya hadn’t really seen before, at least not the real deal. Generally he was all bark and no bite. Tanaka opened his mouth to continue when the door opened again and Hinata popped his head inside, eyes going wide as he sensed the atmosphere within.

“Tanaka? Daichi said to grab you. There’s some problem outside and Asahi is…”

Giving him a look that said their conversation was far from over, Tanaka pushed himself off the chair, pausing for a moment to squeeze Noya’s shoulder before leaving. Hinata didn’t follow him immediately, glancing at Noya as if looking for confirmation that everything was alright.

Noya wasn’t sure himself, but he threw the kid a thumbs up and a grin, he didn’t look completely convinced but his shoulders lost some of their tension as he smiled back and closed the door.

Letting out a sigh, Noya’s arm fell back to his side and he shifted on the couch, the music from the club muffled enough so he couldn’t make out the words. He suddenly felt more exhausted than he had in a long time. Noya shifted to lay down on the couch and set his backpack down on top of him. It dug into his chest, but he wasn’t willing to let it go and he just adjusted the ice pack to lay on top of his hand instead.

Noya fell asleep to the the distant beat pounding through the walls and the flickering of dimmed fluorescent lights. Eventually the bag of ice slipped off his hand and hit the floor, slowly melting and seeping through an opening and into the carpet.

\--

The first thing Noya noticed about the brace was that it itched. A lot. More often than not he found himself fiddling with it, pulling off the velcro strap and slipping it back on with a methodical rhythm that could only be born from boredom.

Suga had brought the brace over with explicit orders to keep it on for at least a week and to only take it off to shower or to exercise his hand. Otherwise it was to be a part of him and everything he did. Which was really annoying when it got in the way of nearly everything.

Especially pickpocketing. Trying to be inconspicuous was difficult when your hand had every chance of getting stuck.

Noya was getting twitchy sitting around and doing nothing. It made him irritable and his usual good humor was strained.

Tanaka had dropped the subject like Noya wanted but only after Noya had finally snapped at him. He regretted it immediately and tried to apologize but Tanaka just laughed it off in a way that made it hang between them like a wall. Even then, Noya wasn’t sure if Tanaka had given up completely or was just hyping himself up for another go. He kept throwing Noya weird looks, all furrowed brows and tight lips like he was about to say something but nothing had come of it yet.

Noya knew that this tension between them was like a rubber band gradually being stretched out and the more they strained it the more likely it was going to break when they least expected.

\--

Azumane wasn’t really made to be a bouncer, that much had become clear in a short amount of time. Sure, the guy looked the part but it hadn’t taken the patrons long figure out that getting away with stuff when Azumane was around was ten times easier than with Tanaka.

Sitting on the edge of the sink, Noya’s legs swung back and forth as he watched Suga dab at a cut on Azumane’s face. Noya was there to hand Suga things as he needed them. Though, he had to be told more than once exactly what it was he was looking for until Suga would eventually get tired and grab it himself. It wasn’t hard work but it didn’t look pleasant, as Azumane’s face now had a few nice bruises to show. To his credit, Azumane winced some but didn’t protest or whine and Noya gave him some extra points for that.

There’d been a bar fight and Azumane had proven himself incapable of handling it. Daichi stepped in before long and the two involved in what had basically amounted to a slap fight were quickly thrown out.

After Azumane had been taken care of, Suga put away a few things in his bag before straightening up and pointing fiercely at Azumane and then at Noya who’s back hit the mirror when he instinctively moved away.

“I’m not some free medical service to use as you please. Next time either of you get beat up I’m going to charge you, got it?”

Azumane stuttered out some response and Noya nodded, both too shocked to say anything of substance before Suga left the room, music filtering in before being shut out again. When Noya glanced back at Azumane, he was surprised to find him smiling fondly at the door.

When Azumane caught him looking he just shrugged, “That’s Suga for you.”

“Ah.”

The silence between them stretched on for a moment too long and Noya was about to push himself off the sink and back onto the floor before,

“How’s your hand doing?”

Noya held it up for them both to inspect, the brace was still attached but he was sure was pretty close to being able to give it back to Suga, “Not bad. I can move it again, so that’s always nice.”

He bent his fingers a couple times to prove it and Azumane nodded, scratching idly at the newly applied bandage on his cheek, “You look like you feel better.”

“Yup,” Noya pushed himself off the sink, and suddenly had to look up at Azumane again, their height difference reinforced once he found himself back on the ground, “I don’t stay down for long.”

Azumane nodded, seeming lost in thought for a moment and Noya started walking over to the door and pushed it open before realizing that he wasn’t being followed. He let the door swing shut again, turning back to face Azumane who was staring at the floor and a thousand miles away.

“Don’t you hafta get back to work?”

That seemed to get him moving again and he started forward, still hesitant but his responsibilities pushing him forward. Noya wasn’t really sure what to say, he wasn’t really good at this whole ‘comforting’ thing. He wasn’t even sure what was wrong in the first place, and he certainly didn’t know the guy well enough to ask.

“For the record,” Noya started out of nowhere, the silence making something inside him itch, “Bruises make you look like a badass.”

Noya grinned when that startled a laugh out of Azumane and he called that a win. Once they were through the door, they split up immediately, Azumane taking his station at the door as Noya skipped over to the bar where Daichi was washing off the counter with Suga settled across from him comfortably.

When Noya sat down, Suga turned to him with a smile that was a little tired around the edges. Daichi’s frown had all but disappeared, his earlier anger having left along with the brawlers.

“Exciting night, huh?” Suga leaned forward on one elbow to include Noya in the conversation, but Daichi answered instead.

“That’s one word for it.”

“Ah c’mon, Daichi, what’s life without a little fun now and then?”

“Well, I sort of expect our bouncers to be more capable of handling that ‘fun’.”

Suga frowned and Daichi paused, seeming to realize what he’d just said, looked sorry but went to defend himself regardless, “It’s sort of in the job description, Suga. If he can’t do it then maybe he shouldn’t be--”

“Daichi.”

Something passed between the two of them and Daichi stopped. Noya was tempted to push them into saying more and opened his mouth to give it a shot before snapping it shut again. He figured he didn’t know Azumane enough to really bother getting involved with his drama.

When Daichi had to go make sure other patrons were taken care of Suga turned towards Noya, “So, where’s Tanaka run off to?”

Noya’s shoulders reflexively tensed and he tried to pass it off as a shrug, “Ennoshita’s, I think.”

It was one of the few times Tanaka hadn’t explicitly invited him and Noya had taken that as a clear sign that he wasn’t. He didn’t really have anywhere else to go and sitting around in the apartment was getting stifling. There were times when he felt like he couldn’t breathe, the walls closing in around him.

Giving him a worried look, Suga seemed like he was about to say something, but then he just held out his hand.“Here,” he offered, “let’s see how you’re doing.”

Carefully removing the brace, Noya let Suga inspect his hand. Despite the noise surrounding them, it felt quiet and tense. None of that light teasing that Suga had slung at Azumane during his patch-up was present.

“Are you two fighting?”

Sometimes he wished Suga wasn’t so observant...and blunt.

Noya shrugged, not ready to commit one way or the other on the matter. He wasn’t even sure he’d call it fighting so much as not talking about certain things. Not from a lack of trying on Tanaka’s part.

“Do you mind telling me what’s going on?”

Suga let go of his hand and Noya slipped the brace back on, flexing his hand a little, feeling the ghost of an ache course through him as his hand was slowly getting the hang of being used again.

“We’re fine, Suga. Just--” he paused for a second to push his hair out of his eyes, trying to buy himself time, “There’s nothing to talk about.”

Suga muttered something that Noya wasn’t able to hear and he leaned forward to try and catch what was being said but was waved off with a smile.

“Nothing, looks like you’ll be able to use your hand again pretty soon.”

And that was that.

They were both a little drunk when the night hit its second hitch as Tanaka walked through the door with Ennoshita in tow. Noya didn’t even see them come in, too busy trading bad jokes with Suga when Tanaka fell down in the seat beside him.

When he felt something shift beside him as a presence made itself known, Noya turned towards it out of instinct to come face-to-face with Tanaka. Noya had a vague sense of uneasiness that settled in the pit of his stomach but he pushed it to the side. Instead he offered Tanaka a grin and something like relief seemed to flash through the other’s eyes in response. Ennoshita moved his head in what could’ve been a nod, either that or he was trying to get a better look at the menu.

“Hey, Ryuu. What’s up?” Noya’s words were a bit slurred but he felt more comfortable in Tanaka’s presence than in a long time.

Tanaka shrugged and his answer was a little stilted, “Not much--”

“Not much?” Ennoshita snorted on the other side, resting one elbow against the counter to finally take a proper look at Noya, “He practically freaked when he thought you’d skipped town again.”

“Chikara.” Tanaka twisted around to throw an angry look back at Ennoshita who just shrugged. Blinking a couple times, Noya tried to figure how to respond to that and couldn’t. He glanced back at Suga who was thoroughly and suspiciously involved in his drink.

“I wanted to get out for a bit,” Noya finally interjected, raising his voice a little bit to be heard, “Is that a problem?”

When Tanaka finally turned back to him after a hushed argument with Ennoshita, he looked tired, “You could’ve left a note or something.”

Noya snorted, finding that funny, his hazy perception clouding his judgement, “Yeah ok, mom.”

Tanaka’s expression darkened and Noya felt that rubber band stretch just a little bit farther, “I’m serious, dude.”

“Ryuu, I’m totally fine, you don’t have to worry about me.” Noya waved one hand in his general direction and went to pick up his glass, only to find it empty. He frowned and raised the other hand only to have it snatched by Tanaka, “Hey!”

“ _Fine_?” Tanaka gently shook the captive hand and Noya vaguely realized it was the one with the brace, “You call this fine?”

Pulling his hand free, Noya almost lost his balance on the stool, and he felt Suga’s hand brace him from behind, “That’s not my fault.”

“You won’t even fill out a damn police report, Noya--”

“It’s a waste of time!”

“--and you won’t tell me what happened, you just keep feeding me bullshit.”

“It’s what happened, Ryuu.”

Noya felt like he was being run over, Tanaka was barely listening to a thing he said. He felt hot, his chest constricted and his good mood vanished as Tanaka continued.

“I’ve let you crash at my place whenever you want, leave whenever you want and you can’t even trust me enough to--”

Something Noya exploded and he sat up straighter, getting into Tanaka’s face, “I never asked you to, ok!”

Tanaka looked taken aback and finally having the advantage, Noya found himself continuing.

“I didn’t ask for you to let me stay over! And I didn’t ask to keep bothering me about shit that doesn’t even matter!”

“I’m your friend, Noya, and you’re fucking worrying m--”

“Well, I didn’t ask for that either!”

“What?”

Noya knew he should stop, cut himself off before he made things irreversibly worse, but he barreled on, his better judgement muted, “I didn’t ask you to be my friend.”

The rubber band snapped and Tanaka’s eyes were so wide that Noya briefly wondered whether he’d actually had actually hit him. The moment passed quickly as Tanaka’s expression shifted before completely shutting down as his face went blank.

Ennoshita grabbed onto Tanaka’s arm and tugged him off of the stool, providing some comfort, “C’mon. Let’s go.”

Noya almost wanted to call out to him, reach out and tell him that it was all just a big joke and that he didn’t mean it. But the problem was that he did. Breathing heavily, Noya stared at the counter and tried to center himself somehow but he couldn’t. The world felt like it’d been tipped sideways and it was only a couple minutes later when he registered Suga’s hand on his back, rubbing circles.

When Noya’s breathing was under control, Suga pulled him him upright to give him a once over. Instead of reprimanding him like Noya expected, Suga sighed and asked,

“Do you have another place to stay?”

\--

Staying at Suga’s made it easier to return the brace. Suga had woken up hungover and confused as to why Noya was sleeping on his couch but it’d come back to him pretty quickly. Noya made lackluster coffee and Suga assured him that he was good to stay for the next little while.

On a scale from Ennoshita to Tanaka, Suga’s place lay somewhere in the middle. He was nowhere near as messy as Tanaka but he didn’t seem to have the stark cleanliness of Ennoshita either. It was a good middle but Noya still felt displaced since he didn’t have a choice in the matter. Suga’s couch wasn’t as a comfortable as Tanaka’s.

Suga did his best to try and make him feel better, and he didn’t push, but he often had to leave Noya to his own devices between school and work. Noya let Suga think that he was staying at his apartment during that time but the moment the door swung closed and Suga yelled a goodbye, Noya gathered up his stuff and got back to his own work.

He was rusty and a little sore, but his reflexes served him well and he was able to get back a good amount of money. Not what he’d lost in the first place, but enough to make him feel better, like maybe things were going to be ok again if only he got enough. He timed it to make sure he got back before Suga, picked the lock, and slipped back inside.

But on the fifth day of what Noya called ‘collecting himself’ and Suga called ‘sulking’, Suga finally put his foot down.

In the middle of watching, but not really watching, some weird cartoon that he didn’t really understand, the screen flicked off.

“Hey! I was watching that,” Noya shifted himself up from his upside down position on the couch. Blood rushed from his head and he shook it to get rid of the spots and glare at Suga who was standing behind the couch, remote in hand. Noya scrambled up on his knees to try and make a grab for it, only for Suga to hold it just out of reach. The asshole.

“Nope.” Suga put one hand on Noya’s face and pushed him back onto the couch, “Today you are leaving this apartment, finding Tanaka, and apologizing.”

Noya pulled a face, “What? No.”

“Oh yes you are,” With little to no ceremony, Suga made his way around the couch to face Noya, grabbed both his hands and pulled him to a stand in one go, “You’re going to get dressed and go make up.”

“C’mon, Suga” Noya whined, hoping to appeal to Suga’s sense of sympathy, “He’s gonna kick my ass.”

“No he won’t,” Suga said simply as he tossed a discarded shirt and pair of pants into Noya’s arms. “He’s going to yell and maybe guilt trip you but he’s not going to hurt you.”

Noya held the clothes, at a loss of what to do, and he finally croaked out “What do I even say?”

“Beg for forgiveness.”

Suga shoved him into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. With a frustrated huff and figuring he didn’t really have a choice, Noya got dressed and, out of spite, brushed his hair with Suga’s brush. He avoided looking at himself in the mirror.

Once he stepped back outside, Suga had his backpack ready for him and shoved it into his arms, and after Noya slipped it on, Suga put a hand on his shoulder. Noya looked up and Suga’s determined expression melted into something softer.

“If you need to come back, you can. But go talk to him, alright?”

Noya let out a breath as he walked past him to make his way out, “Alright.”

“Promise?” Suga called after him and Noya paused for a split second before opening the door. He gave Suga a thumbs up and the fakest grin imaginable: too wide and showing too many teeth.

“Sure.”

\--

He had planned on keeping that promise, he really had.

But the closer he’d gotten to The Nest, the harder his heart beat, and it rang in his ears until that was all he could focus on. He kept seeing Tanaka’s face in his mind and he knew he’d fucked up. But it’d been true, he hadn’t asked Tanaka to be his friend, he hadn’t asked him to start getting involved.

It was better for both of them if he didn’t. Tanaka wouldn’t get that, though. He would keep trying.

He knew all that was an excuse. But denial had gotten him pretty far in the past.

A bus rounded the corner and halted at the stop Noya was next to. The doors opened and the driver glanced at him briefly, moving to close them again when Noya didn’t immediately move forward.

“Wait!”

The bus driver stopped and Noya surged forward with the sudden need to flee, pulling out his new bus pass and holding it against the reader. It rang and the bus started forward again without waiting for him to find a place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super long delay. Life has been absolutely nuts and I kind of lost the motivation to work on this piece. But LancerFate left a really nice comment and it sort of reminded me why I loved this story in the first place! 
> 
> I'm sorry if it's a little rough around the edges, I have been editing it over the past few days and I hope I caught everything! If anything is glaringly wrong let me know. 
> 
> Anyways! I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading and sticking around if you've been waiting all this time.


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